2015 NCA MCD Minutes

I. Call to order Srividya Ramasubramanian (Chair) and Sumana Chattapadhyay (Vice-Chair), 11:00am

II. LaKesha Anderson (NCA Asst. Director for Academic & Professional Affairs): a. Shared information about programming and materials created to help professional

development of graduate students.i. What graduate students should know about the profession and what they need to

know upon graduation; how programs can develop curriculum to address student learning outcomes. Packets have been mailed to dept chairs. Programming at this NCA convention and all 4 regional conferences in the upcoming year. Information for different audiences is available. Academic and Professional Affairs also advocates for research funding, so feel free to get involved and to contact them.

III. Introduction of current officers by Srividya Ramasubramanian, Chair (Texas A&M University):

a. Vice Chair – Sumana Chattapadhyay (Marquette University)b. Vice Chair Elect – Narissa Punyanunt-Carter (Texas Tech University)c. Past Chair – Jennifer Stevens Aubrey (University of Arizona)d. Secretary – Laramie Taylor (University of California, Davis)e. Secretary Elect – Lissa Behm-Morawitz (University of Missouri)f. Web Director – Nick Bowman (West Virginia University)g. Research Committee – Meghan Sanders (Vice-Chair Research Committee 2015)

(Louisiana State University), Hugh Phillips Curnutt (Vice-Chair Research Committee 2016) (Montclair State University), James Durbin (Vice-Chair Elect Research Committee 2017) (University of Akron), and Tracy Worrell (Vice-Chair Elect Research Committee 2018) (Rochester Institute of Technology)

h. Nominations Committee – Siobhan Smith (Chair) (University of Louisville), Stephanie Young (University of Southern Indiana), Lisa Glebatis Perks (Merrimack College), Shane Semmler (University of South Dakota), Omotayo Banjo (University of Cincinatti), and Adam Earnheardt (Youngstown State University)

i. Graduate Student Representative: Valerie Kretz (University of Wisconsin-Madison)j. Representatives to NCA General Assembly – Stan Tickton (Norfolk State University)

and Shane Tilton (Ohio Northern University)IV. 2014 MCD Minutes: Laramie Taylor (Secretary)

a. Minutes were approvedV. Siobhan Smith (Nominations Committee Chair) commenced voting for new positions.

New officers voted in are:a. Vice-Chair Elect: Meghan Sanders (Louisiana State University)b. Secretary Elect: Anji Phillips (Bradley University)c. Vice-Chair Elect of Research Committee: Nicole Martins (Indiana University) d. Grad Student Representative: Grace Choi (University of Missouri)e. Representative to NCA Nominating Committee: Shane Tilton (Ohio Northern

University)f. Legislative Assembly Representative: Omatayo Banjo (University of Cincinatti)g. Nominations Committee: Valerie Kretz (Chair) (St. Norbert College), Laramie Taylor

(University of California, Davis)h. Publication/Web Editor: Jac Gershberg (Idaho State University)

VI. MCD Teaching Award Presentation by Narissa Punyanunt-Cartera. Award presented to Dana Mastro (University of California, Santa Barbara)

VII. MCD Service Award Presentation by Narissa Punyanunt-Cartera. Award presented to Adam Earnhardt (Youngstown State University)

VIII. Report on 2015 Convention Program from Meghan Sanders (Head of Research Committee)

a. Meghan Sanders gave thanks to Research Committee for their excellent work, as well as the reviewers, chairs, and respondents

b. 2015 MCD Convention Report:i. 34 slots of programming (down 4 slots from previous year)

ii. 198 paper submissionsiii. 127 paper acceptances (64.1% acceptance rate)iv. 18 transfers to Scholar to Scholar Session; 17 transfers were acceptedv. 14 panel submissions

vi. 4 panels were accepted (29% acceptance rate)vii. 14 co-sponsored sessions with other divisions (13 with MCD as secondary

division, and 1 with MCD as primary division) c. Srivi Ramasubramanian gave special thanks to Meghan Sanders for her hard work

IX. Report on the 2016 Planning Convention Meeting from Hugh Curnutta. “Communication and Civic Callings” is the theme b. Goal to make the 2016 Convention as much as possible about activismc. Commitment to waiving traditional conference fees for activist presentersd. Inclusion of non-traditional program formatting; in submission, you will be able to

indicate that you intend to use an experimental format e. Attempts to bring in local activistsf. Slots increased to 119 (this increase is due to venue change)g. MCD will have 44 slots. Our slots come from our participation; the more attendees

we have for our panels the more slots we get.X. Report on the 2015 Unit Fair from Sumana Chattopadhyay

a. This was a new event this yearb. 35 units and divisions participatedc. It was a learning experienced. MCD utilized a PPT presentatione. Goal is to generate more interest in the divisionf. Target audience is new members to NCA and graduate studentsg. Division members are invited to spread the word for next year’s Unit Fair and to

share ideas about the Unit Fair for next yearXI. Presentation of the 2015 MCD Top Paper Awards by Sumana Chattopadhyay

a. "From screen to self: The relationship between television exposure and self-complexity among lesbian, gay, and bisexual youth" by Bradley Bond (University of San Diego) and Brandon Miller (University of Missouri)

b. "Good Guys Are Still Always in White? Positive Change and Continued Misrepresentation of Race and Crime on Local Television News" by Travis Dixon (University of Illinois)

c. "The Effect of Primetime Television Ethnic/Racial Stereotypes on Latino and Black Americans: A Longitudinal National Level Study" Riva Tukachinsky (Chapman

University), Dana Mastro (University of California, Santa Barbara), and Moran Yarchi (Interdisciplinary Center, Herzliya)

d. "The Strange Life and Death of the Fairness Doctrine and the Erosion of Positive Liberties in American Policy Discourse" by Victor Pickard (University of Pennsylvania)

XII. Presentation of the 2015 MCD Top Student Paper Awards by Valerie Kretza. "Communicating Stigma and Social Support: A Comparative Content Analysis of

Online Communities" by Daphna Yeshua-Katz (Indiana University)b. "Sexy, Strong, and Secondary: An Analysis of the Portrayal of Female Video Game

Characters from 1983 to 2014" by Teresa Lynch (Indiana University), Jessica E. Tompkins (Indiana University), Irene van Driel (Indiana University), and Niki Fritz (Indiana University)

c. “The Tween Disney Diet" by Rachel Hahn (University of Arizona)d. "Winning Bodies: A Content Analysis of Body Imagery within Competitive Reality

Programs” by Ashley Kraus (Indiana University), Nancy Tyree (Indiana University), and Matthew Blaszka (Indiana State University)

XIII. Report on the Gatekeeper and MCD NCA Website from Nick Bowmana. Steady growth in visitorsb. 10,318 views since January 2015c. Most hits from The Gatekeeper d. Facebook seems to be the place to post information about conferences and calls

XIV. 2015 Legislative Assembly Report by Shane Tilton and Stan Ticktona. “Teaching & Learning” tab on NCA site is great resource: 4 MCD syllabi and 78

syllabi in total are available; e-tools are also available b. Educational Policies board finished a series of “eTools: Using Technology in the

Classroom” posts, found in the “Teaching & Learning” tabc. NCA journals are healthy and great place to do researchd. NCA is in strong financial statee. Proposed change to create a Board of Directors necessitates changes to portions of

the NCA Constitution:i. NCA Constitution Article VI, Section 1: Legislative Assembly shall be the principal

policy making body of the Association and shall be responsible for managing its resources and affairs

ii. NCA Constitution Article VI, Section 4: The Executive Committee of the Legislative Assembly shall administer the policies of the Assembly and shall, between annual meetings of the Assembly, serve as the chief administrative authority of the Association

f. There is a move to change the Executive Committee into a Board of Directors, which results in expanded role; see proposed plan below:

i. Legislative Assembly approved the following amendments – Amend Article III, Section 6 by inserting at the end: “Recall of other elected board members shall require a two-thirds vote of the Legislative Assembly.” Amend Article III, Section 1 to strike “two Intercaucus Directors” and insert “one Director from each caucus” with conforming amendments to be made as necessary. (Which makes to total membership of the Board of Directors from 17 to 21) All amendments shall be subject to legal review.

ii. Concerns about the changes: Several interest divisions will not have a direct pathway to representation on the Board of Directors; issues of transparency; changes to the Legislative Assembly (LA) to that of an “advisory” group rather than a “direct action” group; why do we need to make the changes if all is working smoothly

iii. Arguments for the changes: LA has a hard time reacting to crises; more than 1/3 of LA membership does not show up for the required meetings; lack of strong institutional memory within the LA; hard to vote on direct actions with LA and serves more as a forum for discourse.

iv. Need 2/3 vote to approve this; will be voting on a change to the Constitution and then the bylaws will change; vote will occur during the 2nd Vice President election

v. Only had 64% support last year and needed 66% for passing; revised and now a new vote will be taken by full membership

XV. New Businessa. Shane Tilton – job position announcement at Ohio Northern University

b. Stan Tickton – dept chair position announcement at Norfolk State Universityc. Adam Earnheardt – two position announcements at Youngstown State Universityd. Hugh Curnutt– two position announcements at Montclair State Universitye. Siobhan Smith – two position announcements at University of Louisville

XVI. Star Muir, NCA 2nd Vice President candidatea. Introduction as candidate; explanation of his platform

XVII. Installation of Sumana Chattapadhya as new Chair by Srivi RamasubramanianXVIII. Meeting is dismissed, 12:17pm.

Minutes prepared by Elizabeth (Lissa) Behm-Morawitz, Secretary Elect